The person who faked the Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs admitted to defrauding investors.
According to the statements of the US Department of Justice, Aurelien Michel, who developed the Mutant Ape Planet collection, which is a fake of Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs, is approximately A $3 million rug pull He admitted that he defrauded investors by doing so.
The French citizen living in the United Arab Emirates was arrested in New York at the beginning of this year.
Facing a prison sentence of up to five years, he agreed to pay a fine of $1.4 million.
“Our office is aware that criminals seeking to commit large-scale fraud are seeking to take advantage of ever-evolving innovations in the digital asset space and investors seeking to get involved in the cryptocurrency space,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. said.
When Mutant Ape Planet investors began to have doubts about the project, Michel made a statement on Discord under the pseudonym “James”. rug pull told.
“We never intended to do rug pulls, but the community has become very toxic,” said the person with the pseudonym “James.” “I am aware that our actions caused this,” he said. he added.